Assault at 35,000 feet: The disturbing rise of sexual misconduct in the skies

The lights had barely dimmed after meal service on a 14-hour flight from Santiago to Paris, when a piercing scream shattered the plane cabin’s silence.

A young woman in the row beside me suddenly leapt from her seat, visibly shaken, before rushing towards the galley. Moments later, cabin crew began quietly questioning nearby passengers.

I wasn’t entirely sure what had happened. One flight attendant later told me that a male passenger, believed to be in his late teens or early twenties, had allegedly assaulted the woman while she was sleeping.

Another passenger claimed she had heard he had attempted to kiss her and force her head into his lap.

The accused was moved to an isolated crew seat near the galley, while the woman was relocated elsewhere in the plane.

Cabin crew advised her that she could report the incident upon arrival in Paris, but the shaken young woman expressed concern about missing a connecting flight if she became involved in a police investigation.

After landing, passengers were informed that police would be meeting the aircraft and that passports would need to be shown before anyone disembarked.

What happened next remains unknown.

The incident, however, prompted a troubling question: just how common are sexual assaults on aircraft?

A growing concern

While such occurences remain relatively rare compared with the billions of people who fly every year, evidence suggests reports of misconduct in the skies are increasing.

The FBI has investigated more than 170 cases involving passenger-on-passenger physical and sexual assaults in recent years, while the Federal Aviation Administration continues to record thousands of reports of disruptive behaviour annually. 

Globally, the International Air Transport Association says there is now approximately one unruly passenger incident for every 395 flights.

Experts believe the confined nature of air travel creates unique vulnerabilities. Passengers are often sleeping, fatigued, consuming alcohol and unable to easily remove themselves from uncomfortable situations.

One particularly high-profile case involved a British woman known publicly only as Kelly, who was sexually assaulted aboard a Qatar Airways flight from Doha to London Gatwick in 2023. 

The 24-year-old awoke to find the man seated beside her with his hands down her trousers. The passenger, 66-year-old Momade Jussab, was arrested upon landing and later sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison after being convicted of sexual assault by penetration and two counts of sexual assault.

The case attracted further attention when Kelly was denied compensation under the UK’s Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme because the assault took place on a foreign-registered aircraft, highlighting what campaigners have described as a significant gap in the law.

Meanwhile, earlier this year, Italian national Nicola Cristiano, 45, was convicted of attempted rape after targeting a woman travelling alone on an EasyJet flight from Naples to Edinburgh. Prosecutors said he deliberately moved seats to sit beside her before sexually assaulting her during the flight.

The victim managed to alert cabin crew and Cristiano was arrested when the plane landed in Scotland. He was later convicted at the High Court in Edinburgh, in a case that again highlighted the vulnerabilities faced by passengers in the confined environment of an aircraft cabin.

My own experience

Over more than two decades of extensive travel, only one other alarming incident stands out in my memory – and it happened to me. I was travelling from the UK to Nepal when I woke to find the male passenger seated beside me touching my leg.

I remember feeling instantly repulsed. The man, who appeared to be in his 60s, had somehow placed his hand on my upper thigh. As soon as I stirred awake, he quickly withdrew it and acted as though nothing had happened.

Yet his uneasy, shifty demeanour left me in little doubt that he knew his behaviour was inappropriate. Horrified, I immediately alerted a member of the cabin crew, who quickly moved me to another seat.

The incident never escalated further, but it left a lasting impression of just how vulnerable passengers can feel in the confined environment of an aircraft cabin.

When I later asked female friends about their own experiences, several described uncomfortable attention from male passengers, ranging from persistent staring and unwanted conversation, to repeated offers of drinks. In some cases, they said the inappropriate behaviour even came from airline staff.

One friend recalled being repeatedly given booze by two male crew members while travelling in her twenties. Looking back, she now feels uncomfortable about behaviour she brushed off at the time, and realises how inappropriate and unprofessional it was.

Why might incidents be increasing?

Craig Bickers, founder and director of medical repatriation company SkyCare Repatriation, tells Metro that he believes several factors may be contributing to the apparent rise in incidents. ‘With more people travelling than ever before and increased awareness around reporting inappropriate behaviour, it’s possible more incidents are now being recognised and reported rather than ignored,’ he explains.

Craig adds that the immediate priority for anyone experiencing inappropriate behaviour onboard should be personal safety. ‘If possible, they should discreetly alert cabin crew and request to be moved away from the individual involved,’ he says. ‘Airlines have safeguarding and incident procedures, and authorities may be notified ahead of arrival depending on the circumstances.’

He also stresses that victims should never feel pressured into making an immediate report. ‘Once a formal report begins, many decisions can quickly move out of the victim’s control. It’s important that individuals feel informed, supported and able to make choices at their own pace wherever possible.’

The reality of trauma

Sam Thompson, a safeguarding specialist and Sexual Safety Lead for the Royal College of Paramedics, says public perceptions often fail to reflect how victims respond in traumatic situations.

‘One of the biggest misconceptions is that victims will always respond clearly and decisively in the moment,’ he tells Metro. ‘In reality, people often freeze, minimise what has happened, second-guess themselves, or focus primarily on getting safely to their destination.’

According to Sam, aircrafts create particularly challenging environments because of restricted movement and the social pressure not to cause a scene.

For many victims, the fear extends beyond the incident itself. ‘People may worry about being disbelieved, blamed, publicly exposed, delayed in a foreign country, separated from travelling companions, or losing autonomy over decisions that directly affect them,’ he adds.

‘There is often an assumption that reporting automatically feels empowering. In practice, many people experience the opposite initially – a rapid loss of privacy, predictability and control.’

After my own uncomfortable experience in my twenties, I have become more conscious of who I am seated next to on flights. 

These days, I make sure the armrest remains a clear boundary between my personal space and that of the passenger beside me.

While such precautions may seem small, they reflect a reality many travellers – particularly women – know all too well: personal safety can never be taken entirely for granted.

An invisible crime

For most passengers, flying remains one of the safest forms of travel. Yet incidents like the one I witnessed somewhere over the Atlantic serve as a reminder that crime does not stop at the aircraft door.

The young woman on that overnight flight faced a difficult decision familiar to many victims: whether to report what happened and potentially become entangled in an unfamiliar legal process, or continue her journey and leave the incident behind.

Whatever choice she made, experts agree on one thing – the priority must remain the victim’s safety, wellbeing and ability to make informed decisions about what happens next.

As passenger numbers continue to rise, airlines and authorities face a growing challenge – ensuring that the skies remain not only safe, but safe for everyone.

MORE: Michael Schumacher’s nurse ‘woke up in blood after rape’ at F1 star’s mansion

MORE: It’s 2026, and your dad’s mate can still have sex with you the minute you turn 16

MORE: How a muddy footprint bungled Rachel Nickell’s murder investigation – and led to two more killings